I tried this keyboard out at a local musical instrument store and was impressed with the quality of sound, especially for such a low price. I especially liked the Portable Grand Button feature which allows one to instantly select the grand piano sound while playing live.

If you're looking for a straightforward keyboard to record your own music, especially songs without too many instrument parts, the Yamaha YPG235 may be just what you're looking for. The 6-track sequencer will come in handy. Not the best sequencer but what it does, it does it well.

In today's age you will be delighted to know that the Yamaha YPG 235 comes with USB and Flash ROM to download new songs and styles from your computer.

Beginners will particularly find the Y.E.S. (Yamaha Education Suite) feature an asset. These interactive lessons can prove to be very instrumental in helping students learn how to play piano and are a good supplement for a music teacher. Students can set their own tempo and progress at their own speed. This may not be important for more advanced players.

Yamaha YPG235 Review

But what would a keyboard be without good voices? Well, I must say I liked the sounds of the YPG 235. There's always better, but for such a low-priced keyboard I was pleased. You're only paying over 300 bucks so you can't expect the keyboard to sound like a Motif for instance. This music keyboard has a wide selection of voices for you to play. Actually, there's 489 GM and XGlite compatible voices in there. I liked the 5 sweet, 3 cool voices feature, one which Yamaha is known for. And of course, the Yamaha YPG235 obviously comes with dual and split keyboard features allowing you to play more than one voice at once on your keyboard.

To make your voices stand out more and for more variety, there's 9 reverb, 4 chorus and 5 preset Master EQ effects, as well as 26 types of harmony.

One feature I've always found impressive on Yamaha portable keyboards is the many styles they come with. And the YPG235 doesn't disappoint in that department. There's 160 styles plus user (SFF) styles as well. Styles sections include intro, ending, A/B and 2 Fill variations.

Other features on this keyboard includes pitch bend wheel, backlit LCD and panel lights. The instrument comes with 32 notes of polyphony, 6W + 6W amplifier, headphone and sustain jacks and 12 cm x 2/ 3cm x 2 speakers. The keyboard has a music database of 300 song titles. There's 30 Internal, 70 CD-ROM and 5 user songs.

The Yamaha YPG235 keyboard is sold with a CD-ROM, manual, songbook and music rest. You can use 6 D batteries with it or hook it up via a PA-150 adaptor. I think you may have to buy the adaptor separately. It's not included for the price of $320. Check out the survival kit that it's sold with.

All in all a pretty decent keyboard for the price. This keyboard is great for beginners and professionals alike. It all depends on what features you're looking for as well as how much you're willing to spend. Be sure to read various reviews of this keyboard and spend time checking it out before deciding whether or not it's right for you. And in case you decide to buy check out this online store.